Consumers enjoy a freshly prepared dough-based product. Dough-based products have a finite shelf life, and generally taste better when freshly made, than when the product is several days or even several hours old. For example, the discerning consumer may be much more likely to purchase a freshly prepared doughnut which is still warm and soft, than a doughnut which is pre-wrapped and has been sitting on the shelf for several days. Thus, retail stores selling hot doughnuts, prepared on-site, have become quite popular.
Many dough-based food products, such as doughnuts, are covered with glaze or some other type of sugar-based topping (e.g., chocolate icing). Generally, the glaze or topping is prepared by mixing together the ingredients to prepare a confection that can be poured, sprayed, or otherwise spread on a cooked product. In a standard industry practice, glazes, icings, or other types of toppings are mixed, and the mixture is pumped from a first container where it may be stored in bulk, to a smaller container from which the topping is removed to be deposited, usually as a relatively thin coating, onto the food product. Using a pump to transfer sugar-based coatings from one container to another container may be problematic in that the coating can crystallize as a result of the heat and friction that occurs as part of the pumping process. Also, it can be cumbersome to clean the pump and the other equipment used to transfer the coatings, especially if the sugar has hardened or crystallized. Finally, the pump may be damaged if the composition being pumped runs low, such that the pump is pumping air rather than the liquid coating.
Although freshly prepared food products are extremely popular, it may not be physically or economically feasible to set up a full-scale production process at a particular retail site. The ability to prepare doughnuts in a retail store location may require a significant capital investment and substantial operating costs. For example, to prepare doughnuts from scratch requires equipment to mix the dough and to extrude the dough into a pre-set shape, as well as equipment to cook the dough and to add any optional fillings or glazes to the doughnut. Also, preparing food products, such as doughnuts, from scratch may require storage of raw ingredients, as well as significant space requirements to set up the production line. In some cases, the capital investment, operating costs, and space required to prepare food products from scratch may not justify opening a production unit in a retail location. For example, although the market for fresh doughnuts in an airport or a mall may be strong, space constraints might make it difficult to justify opening a full-scale production unit in such a setting.
Thus, it would be desirable to have an improved methodology for applying sugar-based coatings on food products. It would also be desirable to provide freshly prepared dough-based products at retail sites that may not have full-production capabilities. For example, it would be desirable to prepare a dough-based product having the taste of a doughnut made from scratch, but only requiring that the last few manufacturing steps actually be performed on-site. It would also be desirable to have the preparation of the food product be visible to the consumer in a way that is interesting and entertaining, thereby increasing interest in, and demand for, the product.